Robert Burgelman - Strategic Dissonance and Resource Allocation

In this episode of The Innovation Show, host Aidan McCullen is joined by Stanford’s Robert Burgelman, one of the foremost thinkers in strategy and organizational evolution.

Together, they explore the idea of strategic dissonance—when a company’s day-to-day decisions conflict with its overarching strategy. Drawing from his research at Intel, Burgelman unpacks how induced and autonomous strategyinteract in complex organizations and how leaders like Andy Grove navigated high-stakes inflection points.

We cover:

00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message

00:42 Recap of Intel's History and Strategy

02:15 Intel's Early Innovations and Challenges

07:20 The Rise of Microprocessors

09:19 Strategic Shifts and Market Dynamics

14:36 Intel's Strategic Inflection Points

17:26 Internal and External Ecological Systems

24:55 Missed Opportunities and Strategic Inertia

30:23 Analyzing Strategy Models

37:06 Innovative Gel Product Failure

38:49 Forces in R&D and Management

39:30 Resource Allocation and Product Championing

40:50 Strategic Forcing and Market Growth

42:09 Challenges in New Business Development

44:05 Organizational Championing and Strategy

49:36 Cognitive and Political Dynamics

52:39 Navigating Corporate Innovation

01:00:28 Evolutionary Perspective on Strategy

01:01:47 Prospector, Defender, Analyzer, Reactor

01:06:28 Conclusion and Future Discussions